Pills to Replace Heroin for Addicts

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Pills to Replace Heroin for Addicts

Written by Jenna Bensoussan

Monday, 16 February 2009 11:51

Researchers behind a controversial approach to Vancouver's drug problem are trying to launch a new study.

Hundreds of people took part in the NAOMI project, which stands for North American Opiate Medication Initiative. The project provided drug addicts with heroin, methadone and a pain medication called Dilaudid.

Rob Vincent took part in NAOMI. He says his health improved and he was able to work.

"I didn't have to worry about waking up in the morning and worry about where I'm going to come up with the money to get better now," he said.

Now there's a proposal for a similar study, called SALOME (Study to Assist Longer Term Opiod Medication Effectiveness), which would eventually test whether injectable drugs could be replaced with a pill.

"If you could get some people onto oral medication they could be treated much more simply," said Dr. Martin Schechter, a former NAOMI researcher.

The province has called NAOMI's results promising -- but says it's waiting for peer-reviewed published findings. Meanwhile, research advocates hope Tuesday's budget will include money for an international research treatment centre in BC.

"We have world class leading expertise here in Vancouver today," says Trish Walsh with the Inner Change Foundation. "We're just not giving them the tools to do the job."

The NAOMI project ended up finding pain medication worked just as well as heroin. But Dr. Schechter says when the three year study ended, so did the benefits for many of the participants.

"What we've learned is some of the people...a significant proportion of the people that were doing well subsequently relapsed in the first six months," he said.

Rob Vincent relapsed more than once.

"If you're going to make a project such as that where you're going to get everybody's hopes up...at least make it so it's continuous, and if you are going to have a cut-off date, have some sort of back-up, so that they're not just being thrown out back onto the street," he said.

The new project being proposed is another three year study.

Source: CTV British Columbia

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